Articles

A soldier has been killed during fighting between the Karen National Defense Organisation (that operates under the control of the Karen National Union) and the Burma Army. The fighting took place on September 27 near Mu The’ village in Kyaukgyi Township, Pago division, where the Burma Army Light Infantry Battalion #361 was patrolling areas under the control of the KNU.…

Residents of the Burma border town of Myawaddy told Karen News that fighting broke out at Aung Shwe Bo section between government soldiers and Karen armed groups. A woman resident said, “fighting took place at Aung Shwe Bo section where both the Burma Army and BGF [Border Guard Force] are based. [Burma] army had now shut down all road access…

Following suspension of its membership with the United Nationalities Federal Council, the ethnic alliance bloc, the Karen National Union have said that they will make a decision on whether to stop or continue their membership with the UNFC. Earlier reports from the KNU indicated that the issue would be discussed during its Central Executive Committee (CEC) meeting scheduled in September,…

Handcuffed and with his throat-slit, Saw Ta Noe’s body was found in the Moei River near the Burmese border town of Myawaddy on September 22, a week after his disappearance. Saw Ta Noe, 23 a private, served in the Karen National Liberation Army’s special battalion under the Headquarter Command located in the KNLA’s 6th Brigade. On September 16, Saw Ta…

To mark the International Day of Peace, Karen News spoke to members of the Karen community about the importance of peace. Following six decades of conflict, the Karen National Union entered into a preliminary ceasefire with the Burmese government in 2012. But a lasting peace deal remains elusive and sporadic clashes between KNU and government forces have continued, with the…

An order from the Burma Army banning Karen armed groups from wearing uniforms and carrying weapons has received a negative response from the militant groups. The Myawaddy based Burma Army Light Infantry Battalion 275, issued an order to the KloHtooBaw Karen Organization – a political wing of Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA) and the Karen National Union/Karen National Liberation Army…

Police in Kawkareik Town, Karen State have arrested three people on suspicions of drug dealing. The suspects, one man and two women, were arrested for allegedly selling methamphetamine pills, also known as ‘ya ma’. Police Chief Aung Oo from the Special Anti-narcotic Force in Kawkareik Township told Karen News that the three arrested were identified as U Than Naing, who…

Fighting broke out in Karen State’s Brigade 5 area between Karen National Liberation Army forces and the Burma Army. The fighting took place on September 9. The fighting between the KNLA Brigade 5, based in Mutraw, Papun District, and Burma Army forces, including infantry battalion #19, from U Thoo Hta camp involved light weapon exchanges. The two forces exchanged fire…

Student activist, Saw Thet Thun was arrested twice – in 1991 and 1999 – spending nearly 20 years in prison, he was released in 2007. Saw Thet Thun recalls some of the horrors he and fellow prisoners faced in those years. “The biggest hardship was being tortured. The prison authorities would treat us as less than human, like dogs. They…

Opposition political parties, including ethnic Karen parties, welcomed the announcement by Burma’s Election Commission (UEC) to cancel nationwide by-elections planned for late 2014. The by-elections scheduled for later this year were to fill 35 vacant parliamentary seats. Mahn Aung Pyi Soe, vice chairperson of the Plone-Swor Democratic Party (PSDP), a Hpa-an based Karen political party, said the cancellation is a…